7-Eleven Celebrates 83rd Birthday
To celebrate its 83rd birthday, convenience store chain 7-Eleven Inc. gave away roughly 5 million 7.11-ounce Slurpee frozen carbonated drinks July 11, to customers at its more than 8,200 convenience stores in the United States and Canada.
The drinks, served in special birthday cups while supplies lasted, were accompanied by "Slurpee-brations" and 7-Eleven birthday parties held around the country with music, entertainment, prizes and food sampling, according to the company.
"7-Eleven Day has become so popular that people mark it as a recurring event on their calendars," Stefanie Olson, 7-Eleven brand manager for Slurpee and Big Gulp beverages, said in a statement. "Some people forget that it's July 11 or 7-Eleven Day. They just know it as free Slurpee day. It's a great way to create a party atmosphere at our stores. Everyone wants to celebrate!"
The convenience store chain has celebrated its birthday with free Slurpee drinks since its 75th anniversary celebration in 2002, and July is the month with the highest Slurpee sales for the chain. 7-Eleven traces its roots to 1927, when a Southland Ice Co. employee started selling bread, milk and eggs from an ice dock as a convenience for his customers.
Also taking place on 7-Eleven Day was the launch of the retailer's second-annual Slurpee Battle of the Bands contest. Beginning that day, 12 homegrown musical groups began competing for four semifinalists spots and a chance to win the grand prize of $10,000, with a chance to record in-studio and be featured on Wolfgangsvault.com.
In the Battle of the Bands contest, fans can view all band performances live on Slurpee's Facebook fanpage â www.facebook.com/Slurpee â and vote for their favorite band. The group with the winning votes from the regional events will continue on to the next round of competition. Four semi-finalists will travel to Dallas, where they will create music videos that will be shown on Slurpee.com, again having fans vote for their favorite music videos. The two brands with videos garnering the highest votes will compete for the top title through special engagement in their respective home towns.